Driving mechanism



Patented Sept. 1931 u UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application led September t', 1928. Serial No. 661,377.

My invention relates to drivin mechanism for use on motor vehicles of all inds and 1s an im rovement on the construction shown in my atent N o. 1,409,994.

5 rlhe invention has for its object the provlsion of a positive drive differential whereby power is delivered to both rear wheels equally and simultaneously. preventing the vehicle from getting stuck in muddy, rutty roads and enabling it to be put in motion without excessive wear on the tires caused by the rotation or spinning of one wheel at a higher rate of speed than the other.

., It is a further object of my invention to at all times utilize all the powerdeveloped by the engine with the result that greater mileage is possible with a given amount of fuel.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a device which will practically prevent skidding by distributin the power evenly to both rear wheels o the vehicle which normally follow in the track of the front wheels while proceeding in a straight line, while in turning corners the mechanism differentiates the same as other differentials and particularly that in my Patent N o. 1,409,994.

One of the features of my invention is the structure wherein the cams for releasing certain of the clutches to permit the differential operation are carried by the driving member and by the co-operating driven blocks, thus providin a structure which is very rigid and one lof W ich noise, due to the relative motion of adjacent parts is reduced to the minimum.

In the accompanying drawings, "I have illustrated in simplified form what I now consider a preferred embodiment of the essential features of my invention. In this disclosure the housing which would in practice be provided, has been omitted in order to simplify the disclosure and thus'render the invention more readily understood.

In the drawings- Figure 1 is a front elevation of the disk and ring gear employed in my invention and also illustrates certain parts of the cam mecha, nism employed,

Figure 2 is an elevation of one of the interlocking disks,

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view through the assembled mechans'un,

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 4 4 of Figure 1, and- Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line 5 5 of Fi re 2. l

Re erring now to the drawings in which like reference vcharacters indicate the same parts in the several views, the two halves of the divided shaft are indicated at (1f-a. It will be understood that the usual rear driving wheels of the automobile will be secured to the outer ends of these shafts in the usual manner.

Positioned between the adjacent ends of the shaft sections a-a is the hub A2 of the driving disk A', the driving or ring gear A being shown for simplicity as being secured directly to the web A. The shaft sections al-a are centrally bored as indicated at 1.2- a3 and receive the lugs a4-a5, which project from the hub A2.

The web A is provided on each side thereof with a pair of driving or locking lugs or blocks C, C2 and C', C3. In Figure 1, the blocks C, C2 are shown and it will be understood that exactly similar blocks are provided opposite these two blocks on the other side of the web A.

The web A is provided between the blocks C, C2 and the ring gear A with a pair of concentric slots (L6-a7. Positioned over each of the slots L6-a7 on opposite sides of the web A are the cam blocks b-'b and Z22-J3. These blocks are mounted in pairs on opposite sides of the web A and are rlgidly joined by means of the rivets o-c; spacmg blocks c2 c3 being provided about the 90 rivets within the slots (i6 a7. The opposite ends of each of the blocks b-b, Z22-b3 are tapered or beveled as indicated in Figure 1.

It will be understood that the cam units, each consisting of two ca m blocks may be slid back and forth guided by the slot :L6-a7.

Positioned about the .adjacent ends of the shaft sections a-a are the sleeves D--D having the outwardly directed disks d-d respectively which are ,positioned adjacent to 100 the web A and on opposite sides thereof. The disk d is provided with a pair of driven or lockin blocks Z2- d3 which are adapted when in riving position to fit in between the blocks C, C2, on the adjacent face of the web A. The other disk d carried by the sleeve D is rovided with two exactly similar blocks 4-d5, adapted to be positioned between the blocks C', C3 on the opposite side of the web A. The lugs C, C', C2, C3 and the blocks d2-cZ3-d4--d5 are slightly undercut or dove tailed as indicated by dotted lines `in Figs. 1 and 2 so that the harder the pull the more firmly the driving and driven blocks are drawn together.

The outer ends of the blocks d2-d3--d4 and d5 are chamfered or beveled as indicated at d6-d7-d8--d9 in Figure 2. It is to be understood that the outer ends of the co-operating locking blocks on both sides of the web A' are beveled on their lateral edges as just described. The collars D-D are keyed to their respective shaft sections as indicated at K and K', and are normally urged toward the web A by means of the springs F2-F3 respectively. The operation of the dierene tial is as follows- Assuming that the ring gear A is being driven to propel the vehicle, blocks C, C2 on the web A willcome into engagement with the blocks (i2-d3 and the blocks C', C3 on the opposite side of the web A will come into engagement with the blocks i4-d5 on the other sleeve D', thus causing the shaft sections to be driven simultaneously in the same direction. This operation takes place as lon as the vehicle is moving in a substantial y straight line. When however the vehicle is guided so as to move inl a circle, the outer wheel and its shaft section, tends to move more rapidly than the inner wheel and its shaft section. As the blocks on the sleeves D and D do not fill the space between the blocks on the web A', the blocks cl2-d3 or d4- 5, as the case may be will move forwardly and the cams at the outer lateral edges of these blocks will ride onto the cams 134-06 or 05-07 carried by the web A, thus causing the blocks d2-d3 or Z4-d5, as the case may be to be moved outwardly away from the web A and causing the blocks on the sleeve D or D' to be disengaged from the blocks on the web A. It will be understood that when the car is turning in one direction, one set of blocks will be disengaged and when 1t turns in the opposite direction, the other set will be disenaged As soon as the car agaln reaches a condition such that it is proceedlng 1n a substantially straight line, the blocks are then released and will again come into locking relation and both of the shaft sections will be again driven as before. It will be seen that the present structure avoids the end thrust which is produced by the ordmary bevel gear differential.

I claim: V

l. In a positive drive differential for motor vehicles, the combination of a divided shaft, a disc for driving said shaft, a gear joined to said disc, driving blocks on each side of said disc, sleeve members on said shaft on opposite sides of said disc, driven blocks on said sleeve members co-acting with the blocks on said disc, and cams carried by said disc and movable independently thereof and independently of each other, said cams being arranged to co-act with the blocks on said sleeves to release one or the other of said sleeves when one part of said shaft rotates faster than the other.

2. In a positive drive differential for motor vehicles, the combination of a divided shaft, a gear mounted thereon, driving blocks on each side of the web of said gear and spaced.

apart from each other, cam members movable in slots in the web of the gear and in proximity to the aforesaid blocks, sleeve members mounted on the aforesaid shaft upon each side o-f said gear, driven blocks carried by said members and normally disposed in recesses between the first mentioned blocks, cam blocks on each side of the gear and cam blocks on the sleeve members, sald cams adapted to be moved past each other and disengage the aforesaid driving and driven blocks.

3. In a positive drive differential for motor vehicles, the combination of a divided shaft, a gear mountedthereon,driving blocks on each side of the web of the gear and in proximity to the aforesaid blocks, sleeve members mounted on the aforesaid shaft upon each side of said gear, driven blocks carried by said members and normally disposed in recesses between the first mentioned blocks, cam blocks on each side of the gear and cam blocks on the sleeve members, said cams adapted to be moved past each other, and disengage the aforesaid driving and driven blocks, and springs surrounding the shaftand restoring said cams and driven blocks to original position.

4. In a positive drive for motor vehicles, the combination of a divided shaft, a gear mounted'thereon, cam members movable along slots in the web of the gear and operative upon both sides thereof, driving blocks on the web of said gear, and a sleeve member mounted upon each side of the gear, driven blocks supported on the face thereof and arranged to co-act with the said driving blocks, said locking blocks and cams operative under pressure of rotation when the vehicle is turned to automatically disengage the said driving and driven blocks and spring` mechanism restoring said member to normal position upon completion of the turn.

5. Ina positive drive differential for motor vehicles, the combination of a divided shaft, a gear mounted thereon, cam members movable along slots in the web of the gear and operative upon both sides thereof, driving blocks upon the web of said gear, oppositely facing driven blocks supported on the divided shaft and having enga ement with the said driving blocks', means or automatically disengaging the aforesaid blocks when the vehicle is turned in either direction, and means restoring said members to normal position upon the completion of the turn. v

' 6. In a positive drive differential for motor vehicles, -a divided shaft, a disc for driving said shaft, driving blocks on opposite sides of said disc, sleeve members onsaid shaft sections on opposite sides of said/disc, driven blocks on said sleeves co-operating, respectively, With the driving blocks on the o posite sides of said disc, and cams carrie by said disc and movable independently thereof and of each other, said cams operating automatically to displace one or the other of said sleeve members to remove the driven blocks thereon from operative relation to the corresponding driving blocks on said disc.

In a positive drive differential for motor vehicles, the combination of a divided shaft, a gear mounted thereon, driving blocks on each side of the gear, driven blocks adapted to co-operate w1th the respective driving blocks on the respective sides of the gear, the respective co-operating blocks being rotatably and laterally movable one with relation to the other, relatively movable coacting cam members on said gear and driven blocks for automatically effecting such relative movements of the blocks to render them inactive with respect to each other, and means tending normally to impart a lateral movement to certain of said blocks in one direction.

8. In a positive drive differential for motor vehicles, thecombination of a divided shaft, a gear mounted thereon, driving blocks on each side of the gear, sleeve members mounted on shaft on opposite sides of the gear, said members carrying co-acting driven blocks adapted to normally fit in recesses between the blocks carried upon the gear, and cam mechanism movable with respect to each other and with respect to the gear for' laterally displacing certain of the co-operating blocks to render them inactive with respect to each other when the differential is in operation.

9. In a ositive drive differential for motor f vehicles, t e combination of a divided shaft, a gear having an inwardl directed web mounted thereon, cam mem ers carried by the web on opposite sides thereof and movable with and with respect thereto, driving blocks :arried by the gear, and driven blocks on zach side of the gear and adapted to co-act with the said driving blocks, said blocks and am being operative under pressure of rota- ;ion when the vehicle is turned, to autonaticaly shift'the co-actin blocks laterally :lille with respect to the ot er to disengage SUL 10. In a positive drive differential for mo- I tor vehicles, the combination of a divided shaft a gear mounted thereon, independently mova le cam members carried opposite sides thereof and movable with and with respect thereto, driving blocks carried by the gear, driven blocks n each side of the gear and adapted to co-act with the said driving blocks, said blocks and cam being operative under pressure of rotation when the vehicle is turned, to automatically shift the ,co-acting locking blocks laterally one with respect to the other to disengage them, and means tending normally to restore certain of said blocks to normal position upon compietion of the turn.

11. In a positive drive diii'erential for mo-A tor vehicles, the combination of a divided shaft, agear mounted thereon, cam members carried by the gear on opposite sides thereof specification.

N AHUM C. BEMEN T.

by the gear on and independently movable with and with re- 

